Letter to the Editor
William Saunderson-Meyer’s statement (Independent on Saturday, July 18) that President Cyril Ramaphosa is a potential political fatality and allegations of poor performance on his part, is typical of your columnist's customary shallow and predictable wishful thinking.
And then he adds his theory that Ramaphosa “has not managed to stamp his authority over" the “Zuma remnants”, whatever that nebulous term may mean in the real, (not imagined!), world of power politics.
The view that certain ministers are part of a plot against the president is nothing more than a media and political commentator construct, also relentlessly promoted by the DA propaganda machine.
This column by Saunderson-Meyer is a nitpicking, unconvincing fiction and micro-analysis as used by other supposed "experts” in the narrowest sense of the word. In fact it is nothing more or less than shoddy, agenda-driven journalism, which does not deserve serious consideration.
Saunderson-Meyer is hugely biased against Ramaphosa, and surely the unsuspecting reading public deserves a lot better than this.
The only remotely valid observation in the column is possibly that Saunderson-Meyer has a Jaundiced Eye, as his column is aptly called. The Oxford dictionary defines a Jaundiced Eye thus: "Jaundice: a morbid state due to obstruction of bile" and "Disordered (especially) mental vision. That’s what the dictionary says.
Our beloved country is blessed with a world-class president who deserves the support of all reasonable, rational and fair-minded citizens. Let us stand by him at this time of huge challenges in the RSA and worldwide.
Renier Schoeman, Cape Town
* WSM responds: I suggest that Renier Schoeman’s assessments of journalism should be weighed against his history in politics. He was a National Party MP and deputy-minister in successive apartheid era governments. He then opportunistically swopped sides to be a deputy-minister, again, in various ANC administrations. Eventually he became an ANC functionary of Luthuli House.
Independent on Saturday